/m/manny_ramirez

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First thing I thought was this looks like my kid's little league field. The backward rooster-strut pimpjob after ManRam crushed that 141kph meatball would not be welcome at the local little league field, however.

Yes, though that field is the oldest / crappiest one they still play in (plans of taking it down soon) some of the newer once have grass infield.

So the CPBL is equivalent to, what, AA ball? Double-A-and-a-half?

The saying was that it's more like between A+ to AA, but then again, there are a pretty significant number of players in there that did well in the higher minors in the majors nowadays, so it might be pushing it up. for example, Manny was also joined by Chin Lung Hu this year on the Rhino, who spent the last couple years as a fringe utility infielder for the Dodger / Mets and did have a very good season in AAA a few years back. But the comparison is difficult, the ceiling of most players are certainly lower, but A+ ball isn't filled with crafty 30 year olds, that's what AAA is for.

Fu Te Ni went from being a good lefty starter in the CPBL to being a good LOOGY reliever for the Tigers in one season, Nelson Figeuroa went from a good pitcher as a 33 year old in the CPBL to a average one for the Mets as a 34 year old, so yeah.. it's not exactly easy to make a strait out comparison

And it was the 11th inning, not exactly a time to trout out your best pitchers.

The Elephants do have a local starter that can touch the upper 90s in Chen Hong Wen (ex Cubs prospect) at least in relief out of the windup, they're moving him to start though so not sure what happens there. he does hit 150 kM + with regularity in relieve though ( 95+ ) and touched probably 97-98 a few times. But yeah, most pitchers sit in the 140 (upper 80s to lower 90s) in the CPBL (not unlike say.. the NPB. though NPB pitchers tend to have better command as awhole.)

Oh, me too! Loved that guy. Why do we have to be bashful about saying that? Is it just the "OMG teh PEDS! teh CHEATER!11!!" bullsh!t?

I can understand how Manny might have been a pain in the ass as a teammate and as an employee, but as a fan I don't really care about such things. From my perspective as a fan he was a joy to watch and root for, and I have to admit that my interest in the Red Sox has declined since he was drummed out of town.

I recall that when the Sox were trying to execute the 3-way deal with the Rangers and White Sox that would have shipped Manny out and brought in A-Rod one of the supposed rationales for the deal was that the Sox management apparently believed that A-Rod would be more marketable to fans. If that was really what they thought, I think they completely misunderstood how fans think.

For some reason I didn't think of Billy Butler or Willin Rosario would be the guys to show up on that list TWICE

Well, I think it illustrates why homerun trot time shouldn't be taken as a measurement of how good a person someone is. The reason those two get around the bases slowly is because... they're slow.

I recall that when the Sox were trying to execute the 3-way deal with the Rangers and White Sox that would have shipped Manny out and brought in A-Rod one of the supposed rationales for the deal was that the Sox management apparently believed that A-Rod would be more marketable to fans. If that was really what they thought, I think they completely misunderstood how fans think.

To be fair, before he came to NY and became the Goofus to Derek Jeter's Gallant, A-Rod was pretty much a golden boy. The only "criticism" you could lodge against him is that the Rangers may have paid him too much money (they didn't, really, but a lot of people thought they did). Other than that, he was the best player in baseball, articulate and good-looking -- on track to be the public face of the game.

manny was an awesome hitter and i'm sorry he is being dismissed because the fool did drugs at the end of his career. i'm glad he's having a good time in taiwan and i'm glad that the folks there are enjoying watching him too

you know nelson figueroa was on his last legs when he made the astros starting rotation, although to be fair to him, he lives on the edges and the astros catchers were/are simply terrible at getting borderline calls

To be fair, before he came to NY and became the Goofus to Derek Jeter's Gallant, A-Rod was pretty much a golden boy. The only "criticism" you could lodge against him is that the Rangers may have paid him too much money (they didn't, really, but a lot of people thought they did). Other than that, he was the best player in baseball, articulate and good-looking -- on track to be the public face of the game.

The Mets got into the A-Rod sweepstakes, and then made a big deal about him demanding a string of perks including a tent, and how they weren't going to be a "24+1" team. That stuck like superglue before his first New York at-bat-- one of the great "we're out of the deal and this is why you're glad" P.R. deflections in sports history. And of course he was getting crap for "hurting the team" as a Ranger. A-Rod's golden boy days were over sometime in Arlington... if not at the moment he was dotting the i in "Rodriguez" on That Contract, then not long after.